Another night without Derek Jeter against the Red Sox came and went. And it doesn’t appear the Yankees will have their captain at shortstop tonight when they open a three-game series against the A’s.

“He feels better,” Joe Torre said of Jeter, who hasn’t played since suffering a bruised right thumb Sunday in Baltimore. “As long as it’s going in the right direction. Maybe (tonight) or the next day. As long as it gets better, he could get back in short order.”

Jeter didn’t take batting practice indoors and since the tarp was on the field before the game he didn’t throw. It was the second straight day Jeter didn’t do anything physical other than receive treatment.

By the time Jeter arrived in the clubhouse, Torre’s lineup was on the wall and had Melky Cabrera hitting second and Miguel Cairo at short for the third straight game.

Cairo was 3-for-8 as Jeter’s replacement and had played solidly in the field going into last night’s game.

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Bubba Crosby will play for Single-A Tampa tonight. Crosby, who went 1-for-5 in an extended spring training game and played all three outfield positions, will start a rehab assignment in Tampa because Triple-A Columbus is playing on turf and Double-A Trenton is on the road.

Crosby said the right hamstring problem that has had him on the DL since May 19 is 100 percent healed.

GM Brian Cashman hasn’t put a timetable on Crosby’s return, which becomes more important with Gary Sheffield undergoing surgery Tuesday.

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The A’s are pitching Kirk Saarloos tomorrow instead of the ailing Rich Harden. If Harden is out for an extended period of time and the A’s fall out of the AL West race, look for them to attempt to move Barry Zito. The Yankees don’t appear to have what it would take ot land Zito, and A’s GM Billy Beane likely wouldn’t want to trade him to an AL club.

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Octavio Dotel‘s 30-day rehab clock starts the next time he pitches. Dotel, who had Tommy John surgery a year ago, pitched the second of back-to-back games yesterday in extended spring training.

“We don’t anticipate it being 30 days,” Torre said of adding the hard-throwing right-hander to his pen. “He is going to be very important to us.”

Dotel is expected to give Kyle Farnsworth and Scott Proctor breaks and could develop into the eighth-inning setup man.